Reed-board



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REED BOARD. No. 293,558. Patented Feb. 12,1884.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,558, dated February 1Q, 1884.

Application filed August 8, 193?.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MELLEN BRASS, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reed-Plates for Musical Instruments, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

In the manufacture of'harmonicas, organettes, and similar musical instruments it has been a common practice to secure firmly, by screw or rivet, the tongue directly to the reedboard, in which a series of throats were cut to receive said tongues instead of making a separate reed-plate for each tongue, as is done in cabinet-organs and other more expensive instruments. This necessitated accurate workmanship in cutting the throats in the reedboards, and that the tongues should be accurately fitted to said throats, that the tongues shouldbe filedaftertheyhad been secured tothe board, to bring them to the desired pitch; and if one of the tongues became broken or spoiled in any way, much trouble was experienced in replacing the same with a new one. To overcome these difficnlties is the obj ect of my pres sent invention, which consists in providing a reed-board with suitable upwardly-projecting lips, formed by bending upward portions of the metallic reed-board upon each side of open ings or slots cut therethrough, thus forming dovetailed slides, by which any common reed and reedplate may be secured, as will be further described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of -my iniproved reed-plate. Fig. 2 is a section of same on line 00 00. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of a single reed applied to my improved reed and reed-plate board. Fig. i is a plan of a reed-board, showing modified forms of my invention; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged central longitudinal section of a portion of the same. Fig. 6 is asection of another modification.

Ais a reed-board, made of any suitable thin sheet metal, and provided with the slots (1, which are made somewhat larger than the tongue of the reed, as shown in Fig. 8. These slots may be produced in any convenient manner, as by this method they are not used'as throats for the tongues, as was formerly the case. On either side of the slot a one or more (No model.)

lips or ears, I), are cut, which are bent in an inclined position, as shown in the drawings. I prefer to use a reed-board provided with two or more small lips Z), shown in Fig. 1; but the lips Z) may be made to extend nearly the whole length of the reed B, as shown in Fig. a, without altering the principle of my invention. In Fig. 1 the lips Z) are cut by means of suitablyshaped dies, and mayor may not be bent into the inclined position at the same time with the cutting.

In the modification shown at the left of Fig. 4, the slot a and cuts 0 are made at one oper ation, the lips I) being bent upwardly at the same time, if desired. In the modification shown at the right of Fig. 4, the raised portion (I is first struck up, as shown, when, by means of a milling-tool, the top and ends are removed, leaving only the vertical sides 0, which are then bent to the desired position. In these modifications the reed-plate B bears upon the reed-board A only on each end of the reed-plate, which is objectionable, and therefore I much prefer the method first described, as the reed in that case bears upon the plate on all sides. The reed-plate B may be placed in position and the lips I) bent upon it to hold it in place; but it is much preferable to bend the lips Z) first and then slide the reed-plate B into position between the lips Z) and the plate A. These lips I) are made with enough spring to firmly hold the reed-plate B in place against the plate A, andso that it cannot slide, except when forceis applied thereto. The reed-plates B are of the usual construction, and maybe easily placed in position, and replaced when one becomes useless, for any reason,without that inconvenience which is met with when a series of reed-tongues are riveted or otherwise firmly secured to the same reed-heart The tongues on these separate reeds maybe tuned and fitted to their throats much more easily than when secured firmly to a common reed-board, as has been done formerly.

The modification shown in Fig. 6 is produced by making the raised portion f mid way of the slots, and then by cutting the dove tail 5' of a sufficient distance from the center of the slot to allow of the entrance of the reedplate B between any two adjoining raised por- IOU tions f. This makes a very neat reed-board when finished, and for some instruments is preferable to any of the other methods herein described.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a musical instrument, a sheet-metal reed-board provided with a series of openings for the passage of air, and having a portion thereof upon each side of each of said openin gs bent upward to form guides to receive the reed-plates, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a series of reedpiates and tongues, a sheet-metal reed-board provided with a series of openingsa, a series 15 In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name 20 to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 6th day of August, A. D. 1883.

MELLEN EBAY.

Vitnesses;

WALTER E. LOMBARD, E. A. EEMMENWAY. 

